Though I’ve been an ardent theatre-goer since high school days, I haven’t been going as much lately as in previous years. Working in the media, I have often received free review tickets for many, many productions, including quite a few memorable opening nights. But as my job has changed, they’re less frequent, and I’m mostly paying for my own tickets these days, and tend to be more selective.
Last weekend,my friend Michaela and I went to see two awesome shows.
The first was called, “Blackie Blackie Brown”, written by Nakkiah Lui. You’ve possibly seen Nakkiah on ABC TV’s “Black Comedy”, or you’ve heard her on “ABC Radio”, or have seen her on Twitter. Occasionally, her tweets get her in trouble with conservative commentators, because she has some very strong ideas, especially about Indigenous identity, and she has some pretty out there thoughts around art too. The basic premise for “Blackie Blackie Brown” is also pretty out there, detailing the story of a fairly conservative, moderate woman who works as an archaeologist who becomes a revengeful mass-murderer.
The audio-visual elements of the production are absolutely awesome, as audio-visual and live performance are combined in a seemless manner.
But most importantly, the play has a lot of “heart”. Even though the premise seems pretty “out there”, and there’s this amazing audio-visual thing going on, the essential theme of the play is about seeking a better world and a better understanding, and a better way forward for both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Though I think the play has now finished the Sydney run, I’m sure it will turn up again somewhere else. Highly recommended.
The other play we saw, “The Book Of Mormon” is terrific also.
Michaela has previously seen the play in London, and it’s something I’ve obviously been aware of, simply through my interest in theatre.
As we knew the musical was also pretty “out there”, with strong language and subject matter (in the midst of the humour), we were at first a little apprehensive when we noted there were thirteen young women in our row all wearing head scarves. “Oh dear”, Michaela whispered to me, “I hope they realise this is really very blashpemous” as well. Though there were a couple of times I looked over, and their faces were dead pan, they also seemed to really enjoy it. It was a youngish crowd, compared with the older crowd you’ll see at many opening nights.
And though I don’t go to as many opening nights as I used to, it’s still awesome to see some terrific theatre.
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